


Miscommunication and purring

by imnotanironwall



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, M/M, Miscommunication, Post-Canon, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 07:01:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18987640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imnotanironwall/pseuds/imnotanironwall
Summary: Starting a family can be quite tricky and scary. But Lea and Isa are ready to make it work, despite their worries.





	Miscommunication and purring

**Author's Note:**

> It is a sequel to another fic I wrote, [Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18829735), but it can be read independently.

Winter has properly settled in: snow covering the streets, strong wind and freezing temperatures making their way under coats and scarves the moment the sun sets. Isa hates it.

The way up to his apartment after work used to be one of his favorite moment of the day, the stars and the moon lighting his path. However, now that he is on his second winter in Twilight Town, he has learned to despise the slope on his way home. He fears the ice hiding under the white snow and the freezing breeze piercing through his clothes. God forbid he falls and slides down a meter or five.

Needless to say, when Isa finally reaches home in the early morning hours, he is not aware enough to see or care about anything. And when his foot bumps into a wet cardboard box in the living room and a small noise rises from it, he shakes his head and continues to his room without thinking much about it.

The moment his face hits the pillow, he is out cold.

 

It barely feels like a couple of hours when a high-pitched sound coming from the living room wakes Isa up. He first doesn't pay it any mind, it surely is from the neighbors and will stop soon, he thinks.

It doesn't stop though. Instead, it seems to grow in intensity. Small cries getting louder as the minutes pass. If he listens carefully, he can even hear some light scratching sound.

_This_ alarms Isa. The sound could have been anything from a bad tv show to birds on the balcony or a baby in the street. But the scratching is definitely coming from his living-room and he is not letting whatever that is destroy his furniture.

He quickly gets up, though begrudgingly, and makes his way. What he finds wakes him up more than he ever has been.

The living-room is a mess. He is not sure if it was already in this state the night before and he simply didn't notice, but he doubts it.

The floor is covered in torn paper - toilet paper, to be precise,- there's some wet food on the ground from a fallen can, he is not even sure he had that in the cabinets before. On top of it all, there's a stinky and yellow puddle on the floor and a stain on the carpet, on which a black furry ball his looking up at Isa with big eyes.

For a moment, none of the mess register in Isa's brain, he doesn't want to. Acknowledging any of it would make it so much more real and awful. But eventually, Isa sees, _really_ sees the state of his living room.

 

A pillow, then a second and a third, come flying towards the bed and crashes into Lea. The man protests, shuffling deeper into the cover to go back to sleep. It doesn’t do much to stop the attack.

The cover is stolen from him and he yells, the cold hair of the morning freezing his toes. “What the fuck!” His eyes shot open. He lifts his head to give his best dirty look to whoever dared to wake him up in such a cruel way. However, the moment he meets Isa’s gaze, he stops dead in his track, cold sweat dripping down his cheek.

He is furious. Of course, he isn’t out of his mind, shouting and beating the crap out of the red-haired. But the way he stands straight and tall, towering above Lea, his face obscured by shadows, his eyes glistening yellow… Lea can tell he fucked up.

"If the living-room is not cleaned by lunch, I'm kicking you and that thing out of the apartment," Isa says, cold and harsh. He turns on his heels, without more of an explanation, and leaves the room. The red-haired brushes his shirt and takes a deep breath, completely lost. He gets up and enters the living-room, still sleepy and confused, and -

_Oh_.

 

It's twenty past eleven and Isa is standing against the wall, watching his partner clean the floor silently. The room is completely quiet and has been for the past hour, allowing Isa’s temper to die down.

"You can't bring every stray you find and hope they'll be able to stay. We don't have the time to take care of them. It has to go," he finally says to break the silence. He is only met with a hard stare from Lea who goes right back to his cleaning duty.

The real culprit of this mess, for now, is hiding under the couch, carefully studying them. It must know it's not the moment to cause another ruckus. Isa is watching it too, observing its every movement, be it a step forward or the flick of its tail.

"We'll have to bring the carpet to the cleaner, I doubt we can wash it ourselves without damaging it. It really made a mess."

Suddenly, Lea stands up and faces Isa, his hand shaking at his sides. It catches Isa off guard. "Stop, okay? It would have frozen to death if I didn't take it with me.” He looks away, crossing his arms around himself. He whispers his next words. “Stupid of me to think you would actually feel any compassion for someone."

Isa frowns. "The least you could have done was to let me know you were taking in a kitten for the night, none of that would have happened." He points a finger at Lea's chest, holding his gaze as he does so. He can feel his anger rise again. "And by the way, if I was as pitiless as you think I am, I would have let you keep those puppies just so you could see for yourself that you can't keep pets because you're never home. But I actually cared about both their health and your mental wellbeing so I sent them to a happy home, you're welcome!"

His fist is clenched and his other hand is completely flat against Lea's torso. He grits his teeth as he feels the heat rise inside him and steps away before he does something stupid. He is done with this conversation. And if Lea isn't, he doesn't have a care in the world.

 

Walking around town and visiting shops after shops had been a good idea to calm his nerves. He went to some part of town he had never seen before; seeing new faces and making small talk with strangers had been more relaxing than he would have thought. Thus it's rather late in the day when he comes back home with a harmful of bags of grocery.

When he opens the front door, the place is dead silent. There is no tv playing in the background, no humming, no scratching sounds or meows. If he hadn't seen the pair of black boots in the entryway, he would have sworn no one was there.

He spares a quick glance to the man curled up on the couch before he puts the bags on the kitchen counter. No "welcome back" or smiles. He is not even sure Lea looked at him since he opened the door.

With a sigh, he turns on his heels and walks to the couch. He crouches to be at the man's eye level - despite him having his back turned to him. Lea is still. He could have effectively feigned being asleep if it wasn’t for the way he catches his breath when Isa's hand brush away some strand of spiky red hair.

Isa opens his mouth to say something but he notices two yellow eyes looking up at him with fear and uncertainty farther down the couch. _So the kitten is still here_.

He exhales loudly, enough to make Lea flinch, but doesn't immediately speak. Instead, he slides his fingers along Lea's cheek, press his thumb to the man's temple and pushes his hair enough to kiss his forehead.

He can feel his partner melts under his touch, relaxing enough to give him a quick glance, and Isa can finally see the redness of his eyes as if he had cried. It shakes Isa's to his core. They've had fights before, worse than this one, and Lea had rarely cried.

"I'm sorry." he eventually says after a beat, his voice barely above a whisper. "I lost my temper and it wasn’t right of me to let it out on you."

Of course, Isa knows he isn’t the only one who should apologize. But it’s not the time to bring it up. In the end, he shouldn’t have talked the way he did, no matter if he was right or not. He is better than this, has been doing his best to regain full control and understanding of his own self for the past few months. Lea has always been there for him, it was not fair to snap at him just because Isa was annoyed.

He sighs again, quiet this time, when Lea doesn’t move or say anything. Isa gazes at the kitten who's still looking at him cautiously from Lea's stomach. "I still stand by what I said, but I shouldn't have talked to you like I did."

He can see the anger flashes back in Lea's eyes, but it's quickly dismissed with a shake of the head. Instead, the man sits up and look at Isa, sorrow painted on his face. "But why won't you keep the cat?” His voice cracks and he needs a minute to regain his composure. “I can take care of all the expenses. And when I'm gone you just need to feed her. Hell, I'll even ask Ienzo to make an automatic feeder if you don't want to."

He opens his mouth to retort but Lea beats him to it. He takes Isa's face in his, his palms warm to the touch, and forces their eyes to meet. "I want you to have someone to cuddle with and to keep you company when I'm not here.

“It’s not a childish whim or whatever you think it is. I don’t want you to feel lonely when I can’t be around. Please, Isa…”

Had he still been Saïx, his answer would have been short and to the point. No emotion mixed into it. No struggle. He would have got up and ask Axel to leave with that filth he dared call a cat. Because Saïx didn't care.

But he is not that man anymore. And Isa is weak - particularly to Lea's pleas and puppy-eyes. And Isa feels, _feels way too much_.

His hands meet Lea's and he leans into them, his eyes close as he takes his time to relive in the safety and love of his partner's touch.

That was an absolutely unnecessary fight they had. They are adults, _lovers_. There are other ways to communicate one's feeling, no matter what they are, rather than by snapping at each other.

Isa takes a deep breath and opens his eyes to look at Lea who is looking at him expectantly. "Three months. If during those three months, I feel that the cat is unhappy, we won't keep it and I'll make sure it gets rehome to a family that could cater to its need appropriately."

A large toothy smile finally takes the place of that awful pout and brightens Lea's face. He squeezes Isa's cheeks and rewards him with a kiss. Maybe everything will be alright.

* * *

 

Lea has postponed any new mission for the last few weeks. Despite what had been said and the trust they have in each other, they still needed to make sure the kitten learned to trust them as well.

The kitten loves to play and cuddle with Lea whenever she can, but she is still cautious around Isa, padding quietly around him and watching him whenever she hears him enters the room - it’s a work in progress.

That's why, when it's finally time for Lea to returns to his duty, the man is terribly nervous. Of course, he trusts his companion to take care of the kitten, but who knows how long that mission will be? What if he comes back three weeks later and Isa got rid of the cat because they couldn’t get along?

"For the last time, I won't get rid of it just like that. I would at least wait until you come back to talk about it." Isa shakes his head for the nth time, his arms crossed against his torso. "You'll be late if you don't go. Send me a text when you get there."

After a quick look at the time, Lea gasps. "Fuck." He grabs Isa by the nape and pulls him for a peck on the lips. "I'll be back soon, love you!" And with that, he is out of the door.

Isa clears his throat and turns away, cheeks red. He will never get used to such genuine and open affection. How can one say such things so easily, he can't even start to comprehend it.

He coughs another time for good measure, hiding his embarrassment, after a pause and turns around to walk to the couch where the black kitten is looking at him. He stares back for a second before poking her nose - gently, of course, he wouldn't scare her more than he already did during their first meeting. "I hope you're going to be nice while he is away. You wouldn't want to make him sad." The feline sniffs his finger before nudging it with her paw. "Only someone without a heart would be foolish enough to purposely hurt him. And you're not one of them, are you?"

He frowns to himself before looking away. Look at him, talking to a cat. He hasn't been alone for more than half an hour and here he is, on his knees, talking to an animal.  

He gets up and throws a plushie lying around to the cat to keep her busy. He needs to get some work done.

 

He doesn't get any work done.

In fact, the moment he opens the document he needs to copy on his laptop, he feels something soft and furry rubs against his leg. He looks down just in time to see the kitten jumps on his laps.

He doesn't mind a lap-cat. He appreciates less when said cat climbs onto his computer and lays on his keyboard. Fortunately, she is still small and he can handle her with one hand while he holds his cup of coffee in the other.

However, it becomes a bother with the next three attempts.

"I can't believe I agreed to this. Stop that."

Words don't work, of course. He gives up when she tries to jump on his desk a fifth time.

He rests his forehead against his mug, a deep sigh escaping his lips. “This is going to be a long week.”

* * *

The mission is rapidly complete. In fact, what should have taken them two weeks is done in a couple of days. Be it because Lea can’t stay seated for more than a minute without worry filing his guts, or because they are just _that_ good, but they are gone before one can say ‘Kingdom Hearts’.

“I don’t understand why you are so concerned. If the kitten is gone, that means Isa lied to you and tricked you. And that just means he’s a piece of shit of a boyfriend and you should dump him right away.” Kairi shakes her head and sighs. After everything they have been through - and what they still see -, she can’t comprehend how Lea can be so worried over such a small thing. If they hadn’t been friends and spent so much time together in the past, she wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Lea’s constant whining.

She looks over to the man who’s picking at his nails, his foot tapping furiously against the floor of her gummiship. She looks back to the road, her finger brushing the control panel in front of her. “Listen, I doubt Isa would do any of the things you are thinking about. You have to trust him.” She gives the red-haired a soft smile, assurance crystal-clear in her eyes. She then points to a bright light on the horizon. “We’re almost there.”

 

To say Lea is both nervous and excited to be home would be an understatement. The moment the gummiship touches the ground, he leaps out of the cockpit and stumbles to the ground with barely a glance and a thank you to Kairi. He has barely started running towards the city that he is already out of breath. Trees are a blur, he almost gets his feet tangled in roots and hardly right himself in time to avoid falling to the floor.

He could stop by the mansion and say hello to his friends like Kairi is doing. He _should_ , he hasn’t seen them a lot lately. But there is a more urgent matter at hand, mainly the well-being of his own mental health.

He missed Isa, he missed the cat, he is excited to see them both. And yet, he dreads the frigid voice announcing the departure of his new pet, his new _friend_ . Not that he doesn’t trust Isa. But he has seen it, _him_. Hidden deep inside, waiting to rise at the perfect opportunity, yellow eyes piercing daggers into his heart. He fears the return of Saïx, ready to steal everything he has rebuilt.

 

Lea only stops running when his hand touches the doorknob. He takes a second to catch his breath, his heart is pounding in his chest - _everything is going to be fine,_ he thinks _, just like Kairi said_. He squeezes his eyes shut, repeating the words in his head, and then he opens the door.

What he finds is definitely not what he expected. Actually, it’s the total opposite.

The usually tidy apartment is a _mess_. It’s not dirty per se, but there are pillows and a large empty box on the ground, a half-built cat tower in a corner, and- is that a harness on the coat rail?

Lea takes his shoes off in a daze and tentatively takes a few steps inside the living-room, taking everything in. He looks to the couch where he can hear a quiet but pleased chirp. There, Isa is slumped on his back, eyes closed, breath even. He has an arm on his stomach, preventing the kitten - to busy with her munching of a toy - to fall off the couch.

Lea’s heart simply melts at the sight. All of his worries fly away in an instant. What an idiot he had been for being so afraid.

His relief is so clear, it catches his partner’s attention. With a yawn, two green eyes blink open and look up at him. “Welcome home.”

Lea nods, a soft smile on his face. He kneels down to the couch, his face above Isa’s, and brushes away a short strand of blue hair. “This is definitely not the scene I was expecting to see, but I’m glad I was wrong.”

Isa laughs, it’s light, sluggish after barely waking up. “I was skeptical but she is quite stubborn. And she knows how to worm her way into my heart, I guess. Just like someone else here.” He raises his free hand to Lea’s nape and pulls him in for a chaste kiss.

Lea relaxes into the kiss, heart beating loudly in his chest again - for good reasons now. He knows everything will be alright, even if they decide to welcome another member into their family in the future. But for now! He needs to know in details what that gremlin did to win Isa over in just a few days. Because _that_ is a miracle.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been struggling with this fic for a week, lots of self-esteem issues, so I decided that was the best I could do with it. I was unsure if I should post it or not but it's better to get it out and not think about it much longer. I hope it was still enjoyable!!
> 
> You can also find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/imnotanironwall).


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